The Stargate Discovery
by CMDR-Lane
Summary: An research team on earth discover a longburied stargate, and Starfleet must learn how to use it. Could it open an new means of exploration for the Federation? Or could the greatest threat to the galaxy be lurking on the other side? CH15 Live..more soon.
1. Chapter 1

**The Stargate Discovery**

_Authors Note- _

_This is something of a crossover between Star Trek and Stargate. I was wondering one night 'what if in the star trek universe, they discovered a stargate?' thus, here it goes. I hope you will find it interesting, it's going to be a work in progress._

_The story is set several months after Star Trek: Nemesis._

**Chapter One**

"_Captains Log, supplemental. We have finished the two month trade negotiations between the Brixx and the Ta'nook, and are now en route back to earth. Before this misson started, Commander LaForge took a temporary transfer off the Enterprise to Starfleet Engineering, to be with a group of elite engineers whose mission was to develop a new holographic LCARS interface. If that project has been completed on schedule, the Enterprise will be retrofitted with the new systems upon our return to earth._

_Commander Madden invited me to attend a rock climbing simulation on holosuite three this afternoon; I am still trying to decide if I am in the mood for his company. Martin Madden is an excellent first officer, but he personal company during off hours just isn't something one looks foreword to. I guess I will have to get used to it, earth is about a week away at maximum warp. Computer, end log." _ Jean-Luc Picard yawned, stood and stretched. This day marked the completion of the trade negotiations, and a few short minutes ago the ship had leaped into warp, en route to Sector 001. He straightened his uniform, and walked on the bridge just in time for the communications panel to emit a string of beeps. The ensign manning it glanced down, then back up at his captain.

"Priority one communication coming in from Starfleet Command."

"Onscreen." Jean-Luc replied, as he walked to the center of the bridge, and nodded to Commander Madden, who was seated in the appropriate chair. The main viewer flicked, revealing Admiral Kathryn Janeway. "Admiral Janeway, what can we do for you?"

_"Captain Picard, how is everything with the Brixx and the Ta'nook?" _

"We completed the negotiations in good time, and are now en route back to earth. Have you been taking good care of my Chief Engineer?"

_"LaForge has done excellent work. They completed the project well ahead of schedule, and are starting to use the new interface wide-spread. Scared me to death when he handed me a new padd and the displays interface jumped out at me. It sure is something." _Picard studied her face. He had not known Kathryn Janeway for very long, but he could tell she didn't call to talk about padds and trade negotiations.

"I'll bet… Geordi has a way of surprising people with great results. Admiral- something tells me you didn't call to chat about holographics… is something going on?"

_"You know me too well already, Jean-Luc. A group of scientists were in Antarctica last week studying the ice composition, or something like that. One of them noticed that an ice cap was glowing orange a few yards away so they investigated… and guess what they found?"_

"Haven't got a clue…" Picard replied, as he glanced back to his first officer. Martin stood up and crossed his arms. Janeway held up a small cylindrical device, that was glowing orange.

_"They found this. Our scans indicate it is utilizing zero-point energy. This things power outputs are off the scale, and the most intriguing part is, the material it is constructed of hasn't been found anywhere in our galaxy. Captain, this device has been on earth a long time, and we don't have a clue where it came from."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_She opened her eyes, and looked around. She was standing in the middle of a dried up field, with a lush green tree line off in the distance. When she turned around, she saw a large ring standing upright mounted in a stone base. _

_She studied the ring for a moment. It was approximately twenty feet in diameter, with an inner ring that had constellations on it. The ring had nine chevrons around it, which suddenly lit up bright red. She jumped slightly from the noise it made, and watched as the inside of the ring turned bright blue. A moment later, it looked like a vertical wall of water, just rippling. Suddenly, four Starfleet security officers stepped out of the ring, holding phaser compression rifles. For some reason, they didn't see her. _

_The lead officer reached up and tapped his comm badge. "Gordon to command, we have a go." A moment later, many more people stepped out of the ring. She recognized her former captain, Jean-Luc Picard. She wanted to rush over and talk to him, to greet him. _

_Suddenly, she felt danger approaching rapidly from behind the trees. She was overwhelmed with fear, for what she felt was intense hatred and pain. _

Deanna Riker opened her eyes and screamed. She was sweating intensely, and had come close to falling out of her bed. "Computer, lights!" She frantically yelled. Her eyes darted around the room. She was back on board the _Titan, _deep in Romulan space."Deanna to Captain Riker." She said as she ran her hand over her forehead.

_"Good morning. I was wondering if you were going to sleep all day." _

"Will, I think we have a problem."

_"What's wrong?"_

"Its about Captain Picard."

--

"We are approaching Sol Sector now, sir." Ensign Valory Brooks announced from the helm.

_It's about time_. Picard though. "Bring us out of warp, full impulse to earth."

"Yes Sir."

"Hail Starfleet Command." Picard ordered, as he leaned on the armrest of his seat.

"Starfleet, onscreen." An ensign behind him replied. Admiral Janeways face blinked up on the main viewer. "Admiral, we just entered the sector."

_"Welcome home, _Enterprise_. Captain, as soon as you establish orbit, I want you and Commander Madden to beam directly down. We have something to show you. Janeway out." _The view screen changed to a forward view. Earth was coming into sight.

Picard and Madden exchanged glances, and they both stood up.

"You heard the Admiral. Establish a standard planetary orbit," He turned to Commander Madden. "Lets see what the Admiral has in store for us." The two officers walked to the turbolift. "Transporter room." Picard said once they were inside. They rode in silence for a moment, and then Commander Madden spoke up.

"Do you think this has anything to do with that power device they found?"

"I would say that's a pretty good bet." Picard replied. A few minutes later, they walked into the transporter room. The comm activated as they stepped up on the transporter pad.

_"Bridge to Captain- we have established orbit."_

"Thank you, Picard out." He glanced over at Madden and then to the transporter chief. "Energize."

A few moments later, they found themselves standing in a Starfleet Headquarters transporter room. The moment they stepped off the pad, Admiral Janeway and two security officers walked in.

"I trust we are not under arrest…" Picard started.

"Of course not… these boys are here for our protection." Janeway replied. "Welcome back to earth Captain, Commander."

"Protection… what do we need protecting from?" Madden queried, as he shifted his weight uneasily. Janeway broke out in a grin.

"Hopefully nothing. We have increased security all over the grounds since the ring was discovered." She replied, as she ushered them out of the room.

"'Ring?'" Jean-Luc asked, as he raised his eyebrows.

"Do you remember that orange thing I showed you over subspace?" The admiral asked, as they took a left down a hallway.

"How could I forget?"

"Well our engineers have named it a zero-point module, or ZPM. The device seems to create an artificial layer of subspace, and draw power from tiny wormholes that are constantly opening and closing in it."

"That's intriguing. And you say we don't know where it came from?" Picard replied.

"Not a clue." Janeway replied. "We discovered something else buried several yards below the ZPM, as well." She grinned and stopped at a pair of double doors at the end of the hallway. "This is where we part ways, gentleman."

"Your not coming in?" Picard asked.

"I have matters to attend to elsewhere, I am afraid."

"Well it was good seeing you again, Admiral." Picard replied, as he turned to the doors.

Janeway watched Picard and Madden exit through the doors with the security officers, as she tapped her comm badge. "Janeway to Starfleet Communications Department."

_"Comm department here. What can we do for you, Admiral?"_

"Route me to Utopia Planitia, Commander Martins office. Secure channel."

_"Standby." _She looked around to make sure she was alone.

_"Martin here." _

"How is the _Vitesse_ project progressing?" She asked, as she crossed her arms, and looked out a window.

_"On schedule. The cloak was installed this morning." _

"Good. I want that ship finished by the end of week- and don't forget, mum is the word."

_"I read you loud and clear."_

"Good. Janeway out."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

-_Recognized, Picard, Jean-Luc. Captain USS _EnterpriseThe computer announced in the small room. It was no bigger than an airlock, with doors in front and behind them. Picard and Madden were locked in the small room, while the computer seemed to be scanning them.

-_Recognized, Madden, Martin. Commander USS _Enterprise. _Temporary level black security clearance granted. _The computer seemed to ignore the two security officers behind them. The doors in front of them slid open, revealing a large room.

"Captain Picard!" Jean-Luc heard his name from across the room. Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge was rapidly working his way through the small crowd of people, trying to get to his captain.

"Geordi… great to see you again. How are things going?" Picard replied once they got face to face.

"You are not going to believe what they found!" LaForge exclaimed as he jumped with excitement. He turned and pointed to the corner of the room. "Take a look at that!" Picard looked over behind Geordi and whistled softly when he saw it. A large ring was standing up in the corner of the room.

"What is it?" Picard asked, as the trio started walking towards it.

"We don't have a clue. It is six point seven meters in diameter, and this inner ring here has thirty-nine constellations in it. It has these nine chevrons around it, but quite frankly Captain, we don't know what it does."

"What about tricorder readings? Sensor scans?" Picard asked as he touched the side of the ring.

"Well the material it is constructed of isn't in any of our databases. As for the internal circuitry of the device… without a reference to compare to, we don't know what any of it is." LaForge finished. They glanced over at Martin Madden who seemed to be deep in thought. He was pointing to the constellations and the chevrons and talking softly to himself.

"Commander?" Picard asked as he raised his eyebrows.

"Coordinates." He replied, as he looked over at him.

"Pardon?"

"Look… the constellations. They are coordinates in space. These nine chevrons must act as locking mechanisms. It's a transporter, or something like that."

"How the devil did you come up with that?" Picard asked. Suddenly, his communicator activated.

_"Enterprise to Picard."_

"One moment." He said to LaForge and Madden. He walked over to a vacant corner, and replied. "Picard here."

_"Deanna Riker is on subspace, she is requesting to speak to you. She says it's urgent." _

"Route her through my communicator."

_"Yes sir. Standby." _Picard frowned. Something must be wrong for Deanna to call him over subspace demanding to speak to him- even when he was off the ship.

_"Captain Picard?" _Her soft voice came through the badge

"Deanna, good to talk to you again… my ops officer said it was urgent?"

_"Yes… it is. Can you talk for a moment?" _Picard glanced around the room. Nobody seemed to be paying any attention to him.

"Yes."

_"Good. Now it may be nothing, but last night I had a dream. I saw you and several security officers step out of a large ring on some alien planet."_ Picard nearly choked, as he glanced over at the ring that Madden and LaForge were standing near.

"This ring wouldn't be six point seven meters in diameter with nine chevrons around it, would it?"

_"That's the one. It also has constellations around the inner part. Anyway in my dream it was inactive at first, then the chevrons around it lit up, and suddenly the inside of the ring turned blue… like looking into water. Then four officers stepped out- I believe one of them addressed himself as 'Gordon,' then several people including you stepped out of the wall of water. Capatin, I felt intense danger when you stepped out… something seemed to be waiting for you on that planet." _ Picard crossed his arms as he thought about what she had said. How could she have had a dream this realistic, which included the strange ring?

"Deanna, can I call you back in a few minutes?"

_"Yes. Just be careful…" _

"Of course. I will call you in a few minutes. Picard out." He walked back to his first officer and chief engineer. "Commander Madden, I want you to stay down here and assist Geordi. I want a full report on this… whatever… in a two hours."

"Yes sir."

"Geordi, whenever you are finished here, report back to the _Enterprise."_ LaForge nodded. "I am heading back to the ship to begin preparations for the retrofits." He stepped back a few feet. "Picard to _Enterprise, _one for transport."

--

Deana Riker reached down and tapped the panel on her computer display to activate it. The screen lit up, and displayed the words _System Ready. _

"Computer, access ships library." She said, somewhat lost in thought. "Is there any record of a large metal ring?"

_-Please narrow search parameters. _

"Oh I don't know." She said, frustrated. The images of her dream were starting to fade away. "The ring was about twenty feet across, and it somehow acted as a transporter. It has constellations on it, that's about it. Now search for it."

-_One entry found. _

"Display it." The screen changed to a text article about a Caitian legend. As Deanna Riker read the article, she became more and more worried. Suddenly, Will walked into the room.

"Did you speak to Captain Picard?" He asked as he came up behind her and kissed her cheek.

"Yes. He was in the middle of something and said he would call back. Listen to this Will. According to Caitian legend, that ring I saw in my dreams is called a Stargate. This says that 'superior beings' once reigned upon this section of space, and used the Stargate to get here. This also says there were only three Stargates in our galaxy, and they were all buried to prevent the other beings from crossing over to our galaxy."

"That's just a legend. Besides, if this area was under rule before long ago from an alien race, we would have archeological evidence to support that."

"Computer, is there a image, hieroglyph or drawing of a Stargate?"

­-_Affirmative. _

"Display it." A crude sketch replaced the article on the screen. Deanna gasped and stepped back from the monitor. "That's it, Will! That's the exact device I saw in my dream!"

--

_Hey, This hasn't been re-read for spelling errors. I try to fix the major things during my writing, but I really don't have time for anything else. Just tell me what you think of the story? Please? Oh, and if you haven't figured out already, I'm not following the Stargate universe exactly. I am changing it up just a little bit. Just so you know. _


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four **

"_**Most legends have their basis in facts." Captain James T. Kirk, USS Enterprise.**_

Captain Picard awoke to the bright red light, and red alert siren blaring in his quarters. He glanced quickly at the chronograph on the table next to his bed, and it read 0012 hours.

_What the devil could be wrong, that merits red alert in drydock? _He thought to himself.

"Picard to bridge, report." He said as he straightened himself up.

_"Picard to bridge, report. Picard to bridge, report. Picard to bridge, report." _The communications system echoed through his room. "What the hell…" He muttered as he slipped out of bed and donned his uniform. A few moments later, he walked outside his quarters and into a corridor littered with drydock personnel, who all seemed to be running about in no particular order. The corridor was a complete mess, for many bulkhead covers had been removed to reveal bare circuits and conduits. He took two lefts and entered a turbolift. "Bridge." He commanded, and yawned.

­_-Unable to comply, turbolift command protocols are offline. _

"What?" He mumbled. _This ship seems to be falling apart at the seams. _He thought. With all the retrofits taking place, nothing seemed to be working properly. He reached up and tapped his comm badge. "Picard to drydock command."

­_"Dickson here."_ Came the reply.

"Lock on to my signal and beam me to my bridge." Picard replied, as he crossed his arms. He heard the man on the other side of the comm line chuckle.

_"Right away, Sir. I know what your going through… retrofits seem to make everything break down for a while. Trust me, it'll get better. Energizing." _

_It sure as hell better._ Picard thought as the matter stream swept over him. A moment later, he rematerialized on the command deck of the _Enterprise. _About twelve drydock personnel were all busy working on the panels, and completely ignored him.

"Can someone tell me why we are at red alert?" Jean-Luc asked, and cleared his throat. An ensign slid out from under a console, and stood up.

"Sorry Captain. We are having problems with those circuits, everything is going haywire right now."

"Ah." Picard muttered.

"Sorry if it woke you, Sir." The man replied.

"No problem, who needs sleep anyway?" Picard replied, sarcastically. "Any idea when the turbolifts are going to be back in operation?" The man frowned.

"The turbolifts are down?" He asked.

"Nevermind. As you were." Picard said. He left the man to his work, and slipped off into his ready room. He breathed a sigh of relief as he walked in, for it seemed to be the only room left untouched by the retrofit crews. After seating himself in his chair, he grabbed a padd and started reading about the Stargate. The _Titan_ was currently en route to the planet Cait, to pick up a Caitian representative to bring back to earth. Deanna seemed so concerned for his well-being, he promised to stay on the _Enterprise_ until the _Titan_ returned to Sector 001.

_"LaForge to Picard, sorry to disturb you so early…_" Geordi hesitated over the comm. Picard tossed the padd down on his desk and signed.

"No, no. I was up anyway. What can I do for you?"

_"Starfleet Engineering just beamed me up a package… and you aren't going to believe what's in it! Can you come down to engineering?"_

"Sure, I will beam down in a moment." Picard replied as he stood.

_"Beam? What's wrong with the turbolifts?"_

"You tell me… Picard out."

--

_-System start up initiated._ The computer announced in the large room. Annika Hansen looked up at the four massive rods that made up the engine core of the _USS Vitesse_. She looked over her shoulder at the master engineering monitor, and watched the displays switch from red to green.

She allowed herself to crack a smile, happy that the very first systems power up was successful. A moment later, she heard a familiar voice speak from behind her.

"Congratulations, Seven... Annika. Sorry, old habits die hard." Annika turned around to see her former captain, Kathryn Janeway.

"Admiral… I did not know you were on the _Vitesse._"

"Just arrived. I wanted to see how things were going here… and by the looks of it, pretty well."

"That is correct." Annika replied, as she walked over to the engineering monitor. She tapped a few keys, and started a systems diagnostic.

"Stardate 51781.2." Janeway said as she looked up at the core.

"Pardon?" Annika said. Suddenly, she remembered. It was the day _Voyager_ encountered Omega in the Delta Quadrant.

"Who would have thought that years later upon our return to the Alpha Quadrant, that you would develop the very first stable Omega containment field. Then a few months later, managed to come up with the newest and fastest method of propulsion… the Omega core." Janeway gestured to the four large rods in the back of the room. They were pulsing blue, one after another. "Starfleet owes you one." Janeway finished, as she looked over at Annika.

"You are correct, this engine core will change the way we explore space." Seven started. "It even puts the Borg transwarp speed to shame." That remark made Admiral Janeway cross her arms.

"Just how fast can this ship go?" She asked as she leaned up against the core casing.

"The distance from Risa is approximately ninety light-years from earth. A vessel traveling at a velocity of warp nine point six would reach Risa in approximately twenty-two days." Janeway glanced up, thinking.

"That sounds about right." She replied.

"This ship, the _Vitesse, _traveling at maximum velocity, can reach Risa in a matter of minutes. Once out of its experimental stages, this ship will be able to roam our galaxy, and _beyond_."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

Captain Riker was bored.

The _Titan_ was at maximum velocity, en route to the Caitian home world, Cait. He had finished reading the security reports, made a log entry and now had nothing to do.

Deanna was in Sickbay, being examined for anything out of the ordinary… and he was told to stay out until they were finished.

So he sat.

It seemed the minutes were dragging by slowly, as he stared at the foreword viewscreen, which at the moment was inactive. Then he thought of it. Captain Picard always took a stroll around the ship when he had nothing to do, or was waiting for something to happen. Riker glanced at his first officer.

"You have the bridge." He said. He then stood, and walked into the turbolift. "Deck eight lounge." He said to the turbolift controller. Riker smiled to himself, thinking if he had been on the _Enterprise_, he would have said Ten Forward. The _Titan_, being a much smaller vessel, had a smaller lounge and bar room. Just moments ago, a shift rotation took place… so he figured the room would be full of life.

A few moments later he walked in the lounge and smiled… for it was almost packed. The few people that noticed him come in, smiled and nodded. A few even addressed him by name. He worked his way to the bar, and grinned at his barkeeper.

"What's the special for tonight?" He asked the young man behind the bar.

"I got whatever you want Captain. Just don't ask for any Romulan Ale… I'm not supposed to have any." He grinned and replied.

"Damn, that's what I came down here for. Just give me something with a kick, and I will be happy." Riker said, as he turned and looked behind the room at the people.

"Here you are Sir. Guaranteed to make even the most boring day exciting." Riker turned back to him and looked down to a fiery orange beverage that seemed to be sparkling.

"Do I want to know what's in it?"

"Probably not."

"Then its perfect, thanks." He picked the drink up, and found an empty table to sit down at. Riker enjoyed people watching at a time like this, for he could sit back and enjoy his drink and watch his crew socialize.

He glanced up when the doors to the room opened, and saw a young man walk in carrying a padd. Riker thought a moment, trying to remember his name. _Ah, Ensign Orlando Walker. _Riker remembered his service record because it intrigued him that Orlando majored in three of the hardest sections of Starfleet Academy: Quantum Chemistry, Temporal Mechanics, and Transporter Mechanics. The young man was only twenty-four, as well.

Riker watched him sit down at a vacant table and glance at his padd, then his eyes darted up and scanned the room. He seemed to be looking for someone.

_Probably looking for his girlfriend. _Riker thought to himself. He took another drink, and sat the glass down. When he looked back up he saw another young man walk in, Darius McKinney.As far as Will could remember, Darius worked in the science lab, and had a strong interest in Archeology.

He watched Darius stop and look around the room, until his eyes stopped at Orlando. Orlando stood up the moment he saw Darius, and rushed to greet him. When they finally got to each other, they hugged and kissed each other on the lips.

Will Riker choked on his drink, and nearly spat it out. _They sure didn't mention that in the personnel files. _He thought. _He wasn't looking for his girlfriend; he was looking for his boyfriend. _

--

Picard materialized in main engineering of the _Enterprise. _He looked around at all the drydock personnel, who were all busy working on something.

"Captain, come take a look at this!" LaForge summoned from the other side of the room. He walked over to his chief engineer, trying to avoid the spare parts lying about everywhere. "Captain, part of the retrofits include installing holoemitters throughout the entire ship."

"I am aware of that." Picard replied as he crossed his arms.

"Well, someone at Starfleet Engineering developed a new holographic program, designed to act as an extension to the main computer core." Geordi said, as he turned around and pressed a few buttons on the computer panel.

"An holographic extension? What do you mean?"

"_I_ am what he means." Spoke a voice from behind them. Picard turned around on his heel and jumped slightly.

A woman about his height, with dark curly shoulder-length hair stood there staring at him. She was in a Starfleet uniform, and had a look of being in command.

"Who are you?" Picard asked. Before she could answer, Geordi came up beside her. He ran his hand through her midsection, to show she was holographic.

"She… is the _Enterprise."_ Geordi said, and grinned ear to ear. Picard raised his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I am your ship." She replied. "I am in essence, an avatar of the _Enterprise_. I will replace your ships… small-minded computer. I know everything going on in the ship at all times." Picards eyes got wide.

"Your sentient?"

"Every bit as much as you are." She replied. Suddenly, she flickered and became transparent. She then turned her head and glared at Geordi. "I can also tell you that nothing on the _Enterprise _is working correctly, at all."

Picard grinned and stood beside her to glare at Geordi.

"I like her already." Jean-Luc said, and smiled.

--

Reviews, please. Thanks.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Doctor Katherine Pulaski glanced up at the readouts on the biobed that Deanna Riker was occupying.

"Now for this to work, I have to induce sleep. All of your telepathic abilities, as well as brain functions will be closely monitored. After my scans have been completed… I will wake you up. Any questions?"

"No, lets just get this over with." Deanna forced a smile up at the doctor.

"Ok. Here it goes." Doctor Pulaski pressed a hypospray up to Deannas neck, which immediately sent her into a deep sleep. Before she could pick up her own tricorder, the bed scanners started to beep. Katherine Pulaski looked up at the monitor and gasped.

--

_Picard walked out of the Stargate. Deanna looked around, and realized she was back on the planet in her original dream. Everything was exactly as it had been last time, except this time it seemed she was resuming where she had left off before._

_The four security officers stepped off the platform, and consulted their tricorders. Jean-Luc scanned the horizon with his eyes, and descended from the platform as well. Two ensigns emerged from the Stargate. She recognized them from the Titan, Ensigns Walker and McKinney. _

_Suddenly, a face she had not seen in quite a while stepped out of the Stargate. Lieutenant Commander Data. _

**_This cant be right._** _She thought. Data is dead. B-4 then? _

"_Captain, this planet seems to be the one the Unekran described to us."_

"_I would say your right, Data." Picard turned to him and smiled. "Its good to have you back." _

_**It is Data!** Deanna thought. Suddenly, something started to worry her. Why can't they see me? I have to be experiencing this through someone else's eyes. _

_Suddenly, she saw herself step out of the Stargate. That Deanna Riker seemed to see her, and point right at her. _

_"Captain, there! That's it!" She yelled. The four security officers turned and fired. _

--

Deanna Riker jumped straight up, knocking Doctor Pulaskis tricorder out of her hand.

"Deanna to Captain Riker! I need to see you, _now!"_

--

"Earl Grey tea, hot." Picard said to his ready room replicator.

_-Unable to comply, replicator systems are offline._

"Damnit! Picard to LaForge, I can't even order tea! What the devil is the hold up on the retrofits? Geordi, I couldn't take a shower this morning because the acoustic inverter in my shower was offline! This really is getting annoying."

_"Sorry Captain… I know everything is broken down."_

"I thought we were just going to upgrade the LCARS interface… why is _everything_ affected?"

_"That's was the original plan… but it seems Starfleet had other things in mind. Almost everything is being upgraded." _

"Well just try to make the necessities work, please. Picard out." He crossed his arms, and stared at the replicator for a moment. Suddenly he had an idea. "Picard to Madden."

_"Madden here."_

"Commander, I am leaving the ship for the afternoon. The _Enterprise_ is yours until my return."

_"Understood."_

"Thanks Commander. Picard out." He looked around the ready room. "Computer, are the _Enterprise _transporters online?"

-_Negative._

"Figures. Picard to drydock command, beam me to Starfleet Medical."

--

Commander Martin Madden was standing in the holodeck, staring at a recreation of the Stargate. Something about it was familiar to him. He stood there, staring and thinking. Suddenly, his communicator activated.

"_Picard to Madden."_

"Madden here." He replied, half paying attention.

_"Commander, I am leaving the ship for the afternoon. The _Enterprise_ is yours until my return."_

"Understood." Martin replied.

_"Thanks Commander. Picard out." _

Martin stared at the Stargate for a few more minutes. "I will unlock your secrets." He whispered. "Computer, save and end program."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

"Casperia Prime." Ensign Orlando Walker handed the padd to his beloved, Darius McKinney.

"Casperia Prime? Why there?" Daruis asked as he glanced at the padd. "Ah, the oceans."

"Exactly! It supposedly puts Risa to shame."

"You and your water." Daruis joked. "This planet would take at least a week to reach in a runabout. Do you think you could find anything any closer?" Orlando sighed.

"I guess…" He said and looked away, trying to make Daruis feel bad.

"Look, I will reserve stellar cartography for an hour and we'll look for a place together… how does that sound?"

"Sounds great." They stood up. "I have to get some sleep…" Orlando started, only to be interrupted by both their comm badges activating at the same time.

_"Ensigns Walker and McKinney report to the bridge." _Orlando frowned, and hit is badge.

"We are on our way." He said, and then closed the channel. "I wonder what this is about." They both turned and exited the room, heading for a turbolift.

"I don't have a clue. We aren't working on any projects together, I wonder what Captain Riker wants with us both." They stepped into a turbolift. "Bridge."

"Have you ever been on the bridge?" Orlando asked.

"Can't say I have. You?" Daruis replied.

"Nope."

--

Jean-Luc Picard materialized in the main lobby of Starfleet Medical. He looked around the large room at the large fountain, and many plants. _I hope she is here. _He thought, as he walked to the front desk.

"Doctor Beverly Crusher, is she occupied?" He asked the young ensign at the desk. She glanced over at her computer terminal and smiled.

"She is available. Take the turbolift to you left up to level C, and she is the second office on the right." Picard nodded and smiled, and followed her instructions. A few moments later, he was facing her office door.

_Beverly Crusher, M.D._

_CMO Starfleet Medical, Earth. _

He read on the door. He smiled, thinking about how well she was doing with a position like this.

Suddenly, the door swished open and Beverly Crusher herself started walking out of it. She glanced up and stopped… jumping a bit.

"Jean-Luc!" She smiled. "How long were you standing there?"

"Long enough to be slightly embarrassed that I was caught." He replied. "Beverly, you look great." They embraced in a hug.

"As do you. Tell me, what brings you to Earth?" She asked, as she ushered him into her office.

"Well, that's an interesting story. However, I can't really talk about it because of my new security clearance."

"Shame, the interesting stories are always the best." She replied, smiling.

"I can tell you this, the _Enterprise_ is in drydock undergoing retrofits, so we will be here a while…" He stopped, forming an idea in his head. "… Beverly, have you had lunch yet?"

--

Captain Riker looked behind him as the turbolift doors opened on the back of the bridge revealing ensigns Walker and McKinney, who stepped out and stood at attention.

"Reporting as ordered, Sir." Darius announced.

"At ease." Riker replied. "Welcome to the bridge. I want you two to attend a briefing in a few minutes." He watched them exchange confused glances. Suddenly, his conn officer spoke up.

"Approaching planet Cait, Sir."  
"Slow to impulse. As soon as we are in range, contact the Caitian government and tell them we are ready to receive the ambassador."

"Yes Sir."

A moment later, Deanna Riker stepped out of the secondary turbolift on the other side of the room. She nodded to Will, and walked over to Darius McKinney and Orlando Walker. "First time on the bridge?" She asked, noticing their very uneasy expressions.

"Yes Ma'am." Orlando replied.

"Don't worry, we don't bite." She smiled.

The conn officer suddenly spoke up. "Sir, there is a shuttle approaching dead ahead. They are hailing."

"Onscreen." Will Riker said, as he walked closer to the front of the bridge.

A Caitian male flashed up on the main viewer.

_"My name is Vrant, representing planet Cait. Request permission to come aboard." _

"We are ready to receive you in our main shuttle bay. Turn your controls over to our computer for the docking procedure."

_"Understood. I wish to transport over immediately to discuss the Stargate. If you really have un-buried one, there isn't much time left." _

Riker frowned. "As soon as you transfer control to our computer, we will beam you directly to our conference room. _Titan _out." Riker turned and pointed to Deanna and Ensigns McKinney and Walker. "To the conference room." He said, as they all walked towards the door.

A few moments later, the ambassador beamed into the room, on the opposite side of the table.

"Welcome to the _Titan_." Will spoke up, as he walked over to greet Vrant.

"Yes, yes. Nice ship. Show me the Stargate." The Caitian quickly said.

"Down to business, I can appreciate that." Riker spoke softly. He walked over to the wall panel and tapped a button. The wall viewer activated, displaying images of the Stargate back at Starfleet Command. "These images were taken just hours ago when the Stargate was recovered, and shipped to Starfleet Command." Riker said, as he pointed to the viewer.

Vrant walked quickly up to the image, and ran his hands over the screen.

"Astounding." He whispered. "It is in perfect condition. Where is the DHD?"

"The what?" Will replied.

"The dial-home-device." Vrant replied annoyed. "These gates were thought to be a myth, a fake. But you found one. It should have a DHD near it and…" He stopped dead. "According to ledged, a dark and powerful force used the gates as a means of transportation to this galaxy. They can be rendered useless if buried, so they were. If a gate is unburied, it is rendered active again. _Anyone_ from _anywhere_ can dial in." He turned back to face everyone in the conference room, as he pointed to the image on the screen. "Your gate isn't buried anymore."

--

Reviews, please.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"_Why is nothing working?"_ Geordi LaForge yelled out of frustration.

"I don't know, sir." One of his engineers responded.

"I know you don't know. _Nobody _knows." Geordi said, and fell into a chair. He stared at the inactive warp core thinking. "Maybe…" He started a thought. "computer, are all the power feeds functioning properly to the new equipment?"

"Yes, everything is functioning within normal parameters." The holographic computer avatar appeared and responded. Geordi glanced up at her.

"If everything is working within normal parameters, then why are none of the new installed systems working? The holo generations we installed don't work except for the ones in this room, and the entire three-dimensional LCARS interface won't initialize! We have to be overlooking something." Geordi sighed, and glanced over at the dark curly-haired _Enterprise _hologram. "Any ideas?"

"Now that you mention it, yes." She replied, with an expressionless face. Geordi stood up.

"Well do you mind sharing?" He asked and crossed his arms.

"Perform a cold boot on the ship." She said calmly.

"A cold boot?" Geordi LaForge repeated her words, skeptically. "You mean turn the _Enterprise _off, and turn it back on? Starships aren't really designed for that." He laughed at her idea, and started to walk around the room. Suddenly he stopped, thinking. "Wait a second. You may be on to something. If we do that, it will purge everything from active computer memory! When everything is reactivated the new programming should surface and everything should initialize properly! Great thinking!" Geordi ran off to a computer panel, leaving the avatar with a large smile on her face.

--

Darius McKinney and Orlando Walker stood silently in the turbolift as it descended rapidly from the command deck. Darius was the first to speak.

"That was a crazy briefing."

"I agree. That Caitian, Vrant, was a strange one too."

"Hah. He was real weird. What do you think about the Stargate?" Darius asked his lover, as he felt the turbolift change directions.

"I think it is incredible. Considering I majored in the three fields that I would presume make up how it works, it is really exciting. What about you?"

"Oh, it is of great archaeological importance. Captain Riker said in the preliminary report from Starfleet that it's been on earth for a long time… as well as that ZPM thing. What's better, is that they didn't originate from earth."

"That's right. The Stargate had to come from somewhere. That Vrant guy was convinced it still worked. I find it hard to believe that something that's been buried that long could work."

"According to their ledged, it's a large ring that supposedly can let you travel huge distances. Who knows, it could be absolutely nothing at all." Darius chuckled.

_…or not. _Orlando thought as the turbolift stopped, and he stepped out.

--

Geordi LaForge looked at the emergency torch that was sitting on top of a dead panel. A few minutes ago the _Enterprise_ had disconnected from drydock power, and had initiated a complete system shut down. The entire vessel was dark, with the exception of glowing tricorder screens and emergency torches. He had his entire engineering staff dispatched throughout key areas of the ship, ready to re-engage power. It was time.

"LaForge to engineering teams." He said after he tapped his comm badge. "Full system start up in three, two, one… now!" He said as he looked at his tricorder. The warp core suddenly lit up bright, including the lights in the room. Geordi looked at the LCARS panels, as the new holographic interface suddenly activated. The three-dimensional controls that he had spent the past few months on creating suddenly sprang to life throughout the entire room. Geordi jumped up in the air. "_Yes!_"

--

"Bridge to engine room, the new holographic LCARS system just came online up here. Good work." Commander Martin Madden praised Geordi as he walked over to the science II panel to observe the new interface.

_"Thanks commander. The systems restart seemed to fix everything, I am showing the new holoemitters and the turbolift networks are back online. A few more tweaks, and the _Enterprise _will be ready to depart."_

"Very good. Bridge out." Martin tapped a hovering button and watched the entire display change. _It's going to take me forever to learn how to work this._ He thought as he studied the floating buttons.

Two people on the bridge had been trained for the new systems, and were manning the tactical and science I panels. The science I panel suddenly begin to emit a shrill beep.

"Commander, sensors are picking up a disturbance in subspace." Lieutenant Simmons said to him, after he pressed a few buttons. Madden walked over to him and looked at the readout.

"What kind of disturbance?"

"Sir, it looks like an artificial wormhole just opened up at Starfleet command!"

"What?" Martin whispered. "Where is it coming from?"

"I can't tell the source. Or even how it is being generated… but it's there, and it's stable."

"Collect all the sensor data you can on that. I want to know…"

"Sir, the wormhole collapsed." Simmons cut him off. Without warning the comm system chimed on the _Enterprise. _

"_All personnel with level black security clearance report to section three of Starfleet command immediately - repeat, all level black personnel report to section three. All other priorities have been rescinded."_ The comm line broke off.

"That was a global message. I'll bet everyone five lightyears from here heard that." Simmons said.

"You have the bridge, Lieutenant." Martin said as he took off for a turbolift.

"_Picard to Madden, did you get that?" _

"Yes sir, I am on my way." Madden crossed his arms as the turbolift descended from the bridge. _Maybe now we will get some answers. _


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Picard walked into the room housing the Stargate with great surprise. Security personnel were everywhere, all pointing phaser rifles towards the gate. He could hear someone talking beyond the wall of security officers.

"Please, I assure you there is no need for such hostility. I mean you no harm." The voice said. Obviously, nobody seemed to believe the individual. Jean-Luc took a bold step foreword and plowed through guards so that he could get a better view. What he saw intrigued him.

The figure that stood in front of the Stargate was transparent, and had no defining sex organs. It looked like a basic template of the human body, except almost completely clear. The figure had no eyes or mouth, but was obviously able to see and speak.

Picard leaned over to a lieutenant who was observing the ordeal. "What's going on?"

"The Stargate activated and he walked through. We are waiting on a specialist to get here, but so far you are the highest ranking officer to arrive." The lieutenant replied to his inquiry. Picard could tell that the being was frightened by the way it kept fidgeting, so he decided to take initiative. He pushed his way through the security officers and instructed them to lower their weapons.

"I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard representing the United Federation of Planets." He introduced himself to the being.

"I am of the Unekran. I was sent here to find out why your planet reactivated your Stargate." Picard frowned a bit.

"How did you know our gate was activated?"

"When a Stargate is unburied, it is immediately rejoined into the Stargate network. The Unekran monitor this network."

"Ah." Picard muttered, quickly running out of things to say. The being must have sensed it, as he looked around the crowded room at all the personnel.

"You are not computer based life." It blurted out the observation.

"We are carbon based. I am curious, are you a computer based life form?"

"The Unekran are computer life. Yes." It responded. "I bring my original question back, why did your people reactivate your Stargate?"

"We found it buried on this planet. We… we were not aware of its existence."

"Then you know not of the Stargate network? Of theYa'clkex or of the Vanretna Imperial Government?" It asked.

"I'm sorry, no." Jean-Luc replied. He suddenly realized space just got a whole lot smaller.

"Interesting. We will be in contact." It replied, and raised its hands rapidly. The security officers all raised their weapons in response.

Picard stepped back quickly. "Hold your fire!" He said as he backed away from the being. Without warning, all nine chevrons on the Stargate lit up, and locked. A huge burst of energy surged through the room, as a wall of rippling blue energy appeared in the ring. The being stepped through it and as quickly as it had begun, it was over. The gate deactivated, and all was silent.

--

Admiral Janeway sat beside Captain Picard in a briefing room at Starfleet Command.

"Your sure it said _Vanretna Imperial Government?"_ She queried.

"Positive. It also mentioned something about the Ya'clkex. Do you know anything about either of them?" He replied, noticing the small hint curiosity in her voice. Janeway stood up, and walked to the window in the room, silent. After she stared out at the golden gate bridge for a moment, she turned around.

"Back in the Delta Quadrant, _Voyager_ encountered a space station. We later found out it was a prison station whose cloak had failed - and it was housing a group of criminals of an advanced race called the Vanretna. When we boarded their space station, it set off an alarm and notified the Vanretna. An individual named Briken Dectran who traveled to our galaxy in his warship - the _Voondrek_, later visited usHe told us their empire was not even located here in the milky way."

"He was able to reach your location in a matter of days from a neighboring _galaxy_?" Jean-Luc asked, as he stood up to join her by the window.

"We can't even be sure about days. It could have been hours."

"That is incredible. Please, go on."

"That's about it. He told us we were not advanced enough for all the answers yet, and when our civilization was ready we would begin to know more."

"And that being that came through the gate knew about them. I wonder if the Vanretna are located within the Stargate network?" Jean-Luc wondered aloud.

"I wonder how large the Stargate network really is." Janeway countered him.

"It doesn't really matter. We have established that there are quite likely no more Stargates in our galaxy; we cannot risk sending people through the gate without a starship in range for backup purposes. We don't have any ships that could travel that distance that fast." Picard said quietly. He glanced over at Admiral Janeway, who was suddenly lost in thought. "Admiral?"

"Computer, privacy mode." She spoke softly.

_-Security monitoring paused. _

"That's not entirely true, Captain. What I am about to tell you does not leave this room, until otherwise authorized. Is that clear?"

"Of course." He replied, now intrigued.

"Upon _Voyagers _arrival back to earth, Seven of Nine begin working with Starfleet Propulsion to increase warp drive efficiency. What she ended up creating was an entirely new means of propulsion. You are familiar with Omega?"

"The Omega molecule? Yes."

"Well, they found a way to stabilize it."

Jean-Luc widened his eyes. "You're kidding. I thought that was impossible?"

"Well, so did everyone else. But they did it, and they designed a way to harness its energy to power a starship."

"That is incredible. How far in development is this new technology?"

"We already built a new ship."

Picard nearly choked. "You _already_ built a ship with the new technology in it?"

"Completely dependent on Omega as its power source. The new propulsion will retire warp drives completely. You can literally get from one side of the galaxy to the other in just under eight days."

"Why that is incredible! Why is this news not widely known?"

"Security purposes. All sorts of reasons, really. We wanted to do several field tests to make sure it is reliable. If it all checks out, we will introduce the ship into the fleet and begin mass producing the drive."

"I know it isn't my place to ask, but I would love to see this vessel if possible." Picard pushed onward.

"I'm sure I can arrange something. In the mean time, your first officer told me the _Enterprise _got some pretty heavy scans of the area when the Stargate was activated. Go back to your ship and see what you can make of it."

--

_So, if you are confused about the Vanretna Imperial Government, I am referencing a _Voyager_ story that I wrote a while back ago. You can find it on entitled _Infection

_-_

_If anything is unclear please let me know, and reviews are always welcome!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

Jean-Luc Picard felt a strange tingle in his body as the _Enterprise_ transporter sat him down on the pad.

"That felt odd." He muttered as he stepped down, glancing at the transporter chief manning the unit.

"Starfleet ordered an upgrade of all the energizing coils, sir. They are the new mark eight, and for some reason they cause a slight tingle during transport." The chief replied to his statement.

"Huh." He muttered and nodded the chef away as he left the room, heading for a turbolift. As he walked, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Picard to LaForge."

_"LaForge here. Welcome back to the ship, Captain."_

"Thanks Geordi. I was just informed of the transporter upgrade upon my arrival. I would like a report listing all the systems upgraded when you get the time."

_"You got it. Oh, and I am happy to report that all systems will be fully functional within the hour. We are finishing up our diagnostics as we speak."_

"Very good. Picard out." He said as he entered the turbolift. Moments later, he walked into his ready room and collapsed into his chair, thinking. Suddenly, he heard a voice come from the small niche where the replicator was located.

"Tea, Earl Grey… hot." The voice stated. Picard suddenly realized whom it was he had heard. He bolted up.

"Q!" He said, strongly. Q came out from around the replicator and took a drink of the tea the device had provided him. He scowled his face.

"This… tea, or lack there of… is disgusting. How do you drink it?" Q stated, as he threw the cup over his shoulder – which vanished in mid air.

"What are you doing here, Q?" Picard asked his long time acquaintance. Q smiled and snapped his fingers, which ultimately seated him in Picards chair, and moved Picard to the other side of the desk.

"I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing. I see now you humans just discovered something interesting… the Stargate, is it?" He grinned.

"You know about the Stargate?" Picard asked, and immediately realized what a dumb question he had asked.

"Oh Jean-Luc, I knew about the Stargate before you humans existed. It is one of the few things that have been around almost as long as the Q." Q stopped to study Picards face. "This device has you intrigued, doesn't it? It brings out your inner archeologist." Q smiled, with the smug look of danger on his face.

"Of course it has me intrigued. It has a lot of people intrigued. Did you have anything to do with the Stargates discovery?"

"For once, no." Q looked around the ready room. "That one was all you." He finished as he looked back to Picard. "You know, I think I liked your old ready room better. Where is your pet fish?"

"Damnit Q, I am not in the mood to play your games!" Picard said sternly as he crossed his arms. Q stood up and smiled once more.

"That's right… you have your own game to play. Just remember Picard… once you open Pandora's box… you may never be able to close it." Q snapped his fingers and vanished… leaving Picard alone with his thoughts.

--

The USS _Titan _slowed to impulse speed as it entered earths solar system.

"I am getting orders from Starfleet Command to dock at Spacedock." The ensign manning the helm said as he looked at his computer panel.

"Proceed with that." Riker said as he glanced to his first officer. "Please collect Mr. Vrant and meet me in the transporter room in thirty minutes. I also want Ensigns Walker and McKinney to meet us there, we are all beaming down together."

"Yes sir." His first officer nodded, and left the bridge.

--

Admiral Janeway stood silent in the turbolift and watched the display on the rear wall. It was an animated display, showing the path of the turbolift as it traveled through the ship. She felt the lift change directions, and watched it on the screen. At first she had considered it a completely irrelevant piece of technology, but now she realized it was kind of fun. She turned around and faced the door when she saw that the lift was approaching the main bridge. After the doors opened and she stepped through, everyone in the room snapped to attention.

"Admiral on deck!" Someone said loudly, causing her to grin.

"At ease. Where is your captain?"

"In the ready room, sir!" She walked down the steps from the turbolift onto the bridge and admired the new design of the room. Several steps in front of the view screen went down to the helm and ops stations, creating a much more open feel to the room. Tactical was a large station behind the two command chairs, with science one and two on the opposite sides of the bridge from each other. The master systems display was located in a very peculiar place she noticed as she looked down, for the entire floor of the bridge was one large display, showing all ships status. _Efficient use of space, I guess_. She thought as she stared at the strange placement of the MSD. She shrugged it off, and proceeded to the ready room door, and pressed the call button. She smiled as she read the dedication plaque on the wall: _USS Vitesse – If the Lord created the universe in six days, we can explore it in eight. _

_"Come"_ She heard from the other side of the door. She walked in and crossed her arms.

"Very interesting slogan your ship has." She said to Captain Britton Dickson, who stood up when he saw her.

"Admiral Janeway, what a surprise. Yes, we pride ourselves on the speed of this vessel."

"This particular ship hasn't left space dock yet, are you completely convinced she will be successful?"

"One hundred percent. We are scheduled to make the first test flight within the hour, will you be joining us?" Janeway smiled as she sat down in a chair.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

**Stten Neudecra Galaxy  
**

The warship _Voondrek _slipped silently into orbit around the planet Trtyan. Captain Briken Dectran stood from his seat on the command deck, and through the will of thought was transported to the senate chambers. He kneeled down before his five superiors, the rulers of the Vanretna Imperial Government.

"Reporting as summoned." He announced and stood to face them.

Superior CalTra looked down at him from the large elevated area of the senate.

"Briken. You recall when your vessel traveled to Galactic Sector cc-2926?"

He thought for a moment, and then remembered. "Yes. It was when we restored order to the prison station."

"Correct." Superior DenTra said. "I was the one who instructed you to do so."

"And you made contact with one of the species from that galaxy." CalTra interrupted DenTra.

"That is correct. An inferior vessel designated _Voyager._" He replied to the query.

"As inferior as you have labeled them, they may have become a threat." CalTra said loudly.

"What do you mean?"

"We know nothing almost nothing about them, with the exception of your reports data. The Unekran have reported to us that their species joined the Stargate network… they discovered a buried gate on their homeworld."

"That is interesting." Briken responded.

"If they are descendants from the Master Race, we could have problems." DenTra exclaimed.

"Descendants from the Master Race? I spoke with one of them, and I saw no evidence…" CalTra cut him off.

"You do not underestimate the Master Race! This senate has decided the _Voondrek _is to travel to earth and observe them under stealth. Stay one week and then return with a report. You leave immediately."

--

"Clear all moorings, set thrusters to station keeping." Captain Britton Dickson commanded his helmsman, as he looked down to the large diagram on the floor. "Cloak status?"

"Online and functioning. We are fully cloaked." His tactical officer replied.

"Signal Utopia Planitia yards we are ready for departure." Dickson ordered, and glanced over at Admiral Janeway who was watching the systems come online from the MSD in the floor.

_"Hansen to bridge, the Omega core is powered up and ready to go. You are cleared for all speeds."_ Janeway smiled as she heard the familiar voice.

"Utopia Planitia reports we are cleared for departure. They wish us a safe flight." The ops officer announced.

"Very good," Dickson stood up. "Take us out of the solar system at full impulse. Begin laying in the course for the Omega drive test run."

--

Captain Jean-Luc Picard walked out of his ready room at the same moment Commander Madden walked out of the turbolift onto the bridge.

"We need to talk." They said in unison, and then smiled. "You first, Commander." Picard said, and crossed his arms. Madden ushered him over to the science station, and cursed under his breath as he tried to call up a file in the central computer.

"This new system is a pain." He muttered as he fished around in the controls for a second. Finally he figured it out, and the screen changed to the sensor logs. "Here are some detailed readings of the wormhole that opened up at Starfleet command." Martin pointed to the screen.

"Hum. It looks like it originated from a neighboring galaxy." Picard replied, staring at the display. After looking at it for a few seconds longer, he reached in a locker under the concole and pulled out a blank padd. After he copied the logs into it, he turned to his first officer. "Lets beam back to the Stargate room, I want some more detailed scans of the gate for myself. Picard to LaForge, do you have things under control enough down there to join me on earth?"

_"Yes sir, I think they can spare me for a while."_

"Good, meet me in transporter room three. Picard out." He turned to Martin Madden. "Lets go see if we can open Pandoras box a little more."

--

The button that the ensign pressed at the helm had one simple function. It was labeled _Engage_, and the moment he pressed it, the _Vitesse_ surged foreword into warp velocity. As soon as the vessel hit warp nine, a carefully controlled stream of omega molecules were infused into the warp reaction chamber, then channeled into the newly designed field coils.

The ending result was far different than all the tests, simulations, and predictions made back at Starfleet Propulsion. Everyone had predicted a rapid acceleration, something that would force the human body much harder than normal warp travel. So, in the development of the _Vitesse_, the entire inertial dampener system was re-designed to allow compensation of the much larger acceleration force.

The helm console velocity indicator simply blinked from displaying _Warp 9.992_ to _Omega v1_. Captain Dickson stood up from his chair, and looked around the bridge.

"I thought we were supposed to feel a rapid acceleration?" He said as he walked up to the helm. "Verify that we are at Omega speeds."

After a few taps of the console, the ensign nodded.

"Yes sir, we are at the correct speed. The computer estimates that we will reach the nearest galactic edge in two hours."

"Good, well then we will stay at…" His tactical officer suddenly interrupted him.

"Sir I am getting some strange readings, you should have a look at this." Dickson frowned, and was accompanied by Admiral Janeway at the Tactical station. "The moment we jumped into Omega speed, there was a sensor flash. I detected two other ships, one in front of us, and one behind us. At first I thought it was a malfunction, or some sort of interference from the Omega drive. But after I ran some tests on the sensor array, I think the other two ships are real."

"What? What ships are they?" Admiral Janeway said quickly.

"If I am reading this correctly, they are _us_."

"What?" Dickson frowned. "That's not possible. Activate the viewscreen, foreword view."

The main viewer activated, and immediately displayed the tail end of a ship, traveling at Omega velocity, about a full ships length in front of them. Admiral Janeway raised her eyebrows, and walked down closer to the view screen. "Zoom in and enhance that section." She pointed to the screen. It enlarged, and showed the clear markings of the ship in front of them. _USS Vitesse NX-12040._

"That's our ship." Captain Dickson said as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Viewscreen directly behind us." The main viewer changed directions, and pointed to the ship following directly behind them. _USS Vitesse NX-12040. _

"That's us too." Janeway remarked. "Is the distance between all three of us the same?"

"Yes Admiral." The tactical officer said. Janeway leaned over the helm station, staring at the main viewscreen.

"Could those ships be projections of us?" She wondered aloud.

"Projections? These readings show that they are all identical to us, and definitely in real-time. They are solid." Dickson said as he looked over his tactical officers shoulder at the readouts.

"I meant like a temporal projection. The…" She was cut off by the tactical officer.

"The lead ship is initiating a high-intensity scan of both us and the ship behind us." He said. Dickson raised his eyebrows again.

"Do the same thing. I want high-intensity scans of both ships." He ordered, right as Janeway snapped her fingers. "Admiral?"

"Don't you see?" She said as she pointed to the viewscreen. "They are projections of us. The ship in the front is the future image of us. We are the present, and the ship behind us is the past. This must somehow be connected with the Omega core, it must be somehow fracturing space-time to allow for the rapid speeds!"

"Sir the lead ship just vanished from sensors!" Tactical announced suddenly.

"All stop, scan the area!" Dickson said as he sat down in his chair.

"You wont find it. Or the ship behind us." Janeway said as she watched the stars come to a halt on the main viewer.

"Why not?" He asked as he glanced up at his tactical officer, who nodded his head side to side.

"What were you about to do when I told you that we were fracturing space-time?" Admiral Janeway asked.

"I was about to order all stop."

"Exactly. Which is what the you of the future, the you of that ship in front of us did. That's why it vanished. Then we saw it vanish, and you called all stop, which caused the ship behind us to call all stop. We are all one ship now." Those two other vessels don't exist anymore."

Captain Dickson scratched his head.

"What the hell did you just say?" he asked, confused.

"I need to talk to Seven." Janeway ignored him, as she headed to the turbolift. "Annika, not Seven. Annika."

--

Briken Dectran looked out the viewscreen of the _Voondrek_ with astonishment. He watched the three _Vitesses_ merge into one ship. His First looked up at him, then back at the main viewer.

"Last time we were in contact with them, they could not travel at these speeds." He said. "Much less be able to split their ships into three whole segments, and re-integrate them back into one whole unit! How did they do that?" Briken stayed silent, as his Second spoke his opinion.

"They obviously have advanced far more than we would have anticipated. That is evidence they could be part of the Master Race! Captain, what are our orders?"

Briken Dectran stood up. "We will stay under stealth mode for the moment, and observe them for the next week. When they return to their home world, we will follow and learn everything there is about them that we can. _Then_ we decide what to do."

I wrote this in the middle of the night, and im not entirely sure it made sense. So read it and review it please.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Tweleve**

**Stten Neudecra Galaxy**

Superiors CalTra and DenTra walked through the back corridor of the senate chamber.

"In order to fully understand what we may be facing... we must further understand the Master Race." DenTra said quietly, trying not to attract attention to himself.

"There is not much information on them, what do you hope to accomplish by this?" CalTra replied.

"Anything and everything possible." He replied, as they entered a large empty room. They stepped up on a platform and closed their eyes. "Archive world." DenTra whispered. A bright flash of white light surrounded them, and relocated them to a planet on the outer rim of the Vanertna Imperial Governments control.

They stepped off the platform and walked down the long blank hallway in silence. When they reached the end, DenTra pressed his hand upon the closed door.

"Superiors CalTra and DenTra requesting access."

_"Access granted."_ A disembodied voice spoke. The door slid aside, and they walked into a massive brightly lit room. In the center of the room was a hovering white cube.

"Requesting information on the Master Race." CalTra spoke towards the cube.

_"Information Restricted."_

"Override, Superior access."

_"Override accepted. Scanning memory core for information. Standby."_ The cube announced.

"We knew this day one come eventually." DenTra spoke softly as he watched the display on the cube.

"But so soon? The war was over thousands of years ago. Many of us had hoped they were completely wiped out." CalTra responded.

"What if they weren't?"

"Then we could have problems."

_"Information retrieved and active in main database." _The cube expanded rapidly, and engulfed the two Superiors. Inside the cube were multiple display interfaces, all accessible by touch and gesture.

"Ok, what are we looking for?" DenTra said to himself, as he skimmed the articles floating before him. Suddenly he found one that peaked his interest, so he pointed at it. "That one." The cube enlarged it.

_"Vanretna Imperial Government, Date: -216v-239-733t6, Existence of Master Race deemed impossible. Researchers deny all evidence that…_"

"Never mind. Close file," DenTra interrupted it. "we cannot go by official records. Our governments past rulers refused to believe in the Master Race."

"I'm still not sure if I believe in them." CalTra said. "Wait a second. The Galactic Sector that the _Voondrek _discovered them in. What was it again?"

"I believe you said it was Sector cc-2926." DenTra replied.

"Request information on Galactic Sector cc-2926." CalTra said to the cube.

_"Galactic Sector cc-2926 was deemed maximum quarantine after the Sector 4i wars on date -323t-857-433v6. No data exists after quarantine was announced."_ The cube replied. CalTra frowned. "That doesn't make sense. Sector 4i and Galactic Sector cc-2926 aren't anywhere close to each other, why would…"

"Yes they are," DenTra interrupted CalTra, "remember when the government changed the galactic labeling process? Sector 4i and Galactic Sector cc-2926 are the _same_ sector! The Sector 4i wars took place there, in that galaxy!"

"Wait, stop. The Sector 4i wars were before either one of our times. It was so long ago, there is not much data on it. Lets assess for a moment, what do we know?"

"We know that Galactic Sector cc-2926 is where we _think_ the Master Race is currently residing." DenTra started. "We also know that Galactic Sector cc-2926 is the _same sector_ as Sector 4i, where one of the greatest wars against the_ rumored_ Master Race took place. We know Briken Dectran of the _Voondrek _traveled to that sector to restore order to a prison station, and he spoke with the leader of the vessel designated _Voyager_, whom we now believe to be a part of the Master Race." DenTra stopped to breathe.

"Do we have that conversation on a file?"

"Possible. Request information, Briken Dectrans sensory recorder. Time frame, moment of transportation to the alien ship _Voyager._

_"Sensory Recorder information on file. Begin Playback?"_

"Yes." CalTra said. The room they were in suddenly blacked out, and a blue swirl of light surrounded them. The room shrank, and a moment later the two Superiors found themselves standing in an alien room, looking out through Commander Briken Dectrans eyes. An alien woman in a red and black uniform stepped up to him.

_"Welcome to the Federation Starship Voyager. This is my first officer Chakotay, and my security chief Tuvok."_ The Superiors watched the woman gesture to her officers. DenTra leaned over to CalTra.

"Do you recognize their species?"

"No."

"Me either…"

_"This is my first, Vrolan and my second, Kernos. Let us cut to the chase, Captain. The Vanretna government is not your enemy. We are not even stationed in your galaxy."_ Briken said through the recording.

_"Your ship is able_ _to travel throughout different galaxies?"_ The security chief queried.

_"In remarkable time. Think of it this way, your warp speed is equivalent to our thruster speed." _Briken responded.

_"Remarkable." _The alien captain spoke.

_"The space station you encountered was a prison station. Its cloak failed, causing it to be accessible to your plane of space."_

_"What of the people that invaded our minds?"_

_"Nekieth and his staff." _Briken muttered his response._ "Captain Janeway, our people are a warrior race. Nekieth was the commander of a very important warship, but during the Sector 4i wars, he lost control of himself and became more and more distant with my government. Finally he and his crew committed an unforgivable sin against our government which is punishable with permanent exile. That station you encountered was the place they were to carry out their punishment."_

"Pause recording." CalTra said. The scene before them slowed to a stop. "Something here doesn't add up."

"I see it too," DenTra narrowed his eyes. "Nekieth and his crew took place in the sector 4i wars, that in all reality took place there, in that galaxy? What was Nekieths sin?"

"When this is over we are going to have to start keeping better records." CalTra sighed. "Resume playback."

_"And we interfered by beaming over."_ The first officer concluded.

"_Yes." _Briken responded._ "The different worlds your crew discovered on that station are all specifically fabricated for the prison sentence."_

"_I have a question," _the alien first officer spoke up_, "when we were on your station we encountered an old mystery on our home planet. We call it 'Stonehenge,'_ _it is a rock formation. What do you know about it?"_

Briken and his officers stepped back up onto the transporter pad._ "I am not able to answer your questions now. Your civilization is not ready for the truth just yet." _Briken reached into his pocket and retrieved a small metallic disc._ "Order will be restored on the prison station." _He said, and reached down and handed Janeway the small disc. _"This contains the answers to your questions. When you the timing is right… you will know what to do. I apologize again for the trouble Nekieth has put upon your vessel. When your civilization advances enough, we will meet again." _

"Pause recording! Enhance that section!" CalTra frantically pointed to the disc in the alien captains hand. The room swiftly enhanced the object in her hand.

DenTra covered his mouth in astonishment. "He gave her a naquadah history chip."

--

I am building from my story _Infection_ that I wrote a long time ago. It's a _Voyager_ story. So if this part does not make sense… read _Infection. _Thanks! And reviews are welcome!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Jean-Luc Picard stood in front of the Stargate, admiring it in great detail. Geordi LaForge and Martin Madden had their heads buried in their tricorders, whereas he was studying it at a different approach. The design of it had drawn his attention in, now he was just admiring its beauty. _This thing has been on earth for thousands and thousands of years, and we are just now finding it._ He thought. _A reminder of just how much we don't know._

"Commander Maddens initial observation seems to be the right one." LaForge said, breaking Picards thought.

"I'm sorry Geordi, I was light-years away." Picard chuckled. "What did you say?"

"You did look far out there. When Commander Madden had first seen the gate, he said that he thought the constellations on the inner ring acted as coordinates and the chevrons were locking mechanisms. It seems he was right. From the sensor data we brought back from the _Enterprise_, this device seems to be able to activate a stable wormhole between two points in space."

"Two points? You mean we can simply choose where we want to go?" Picard asked.

"No, we think it has to have another gate. The two gates act as a link, which is what makes the wormhole possible." Madden interjected.

"Intriguing," Picard replied, "so how do we turn it on?"

"Well there is the kicker… I don't think we can." Geordi said slowly. "We seem to be missing a vital part to its operation. There is no way to input the coordinates, and no way to power the thing."

The large double doors in the back of the room parted and five people entered the Stargate room. "Oh my, the Stargate, its real!" A furry man ran up to the Stargate.

"Everyone, meet Vrant. He is the leading expert on the Stargate straight from the planet Cait." Captain Riker said dryly, as he walked with his officers towards Picards party.

"Will!" Jean-Luc exclaimed, and took off to meet his old first officer. They met and shook hands, which turned into a hug. "How is the _Titan_ treating you?"

"She holds her own, although she isn't the _Enterprise._" Will laughed his response.

"My turn!" Deanna pushed Will aside and ran up to Picard. "Jean-Luc!" She said as she hugged his neck.

"Its great to see you again Deanna." Picard replied, and noticed the two very uncomfortable looking ensigns standing behind Captain Riker. Deanna broke away from her hug and stepped aside.

"Ensigns Orlando Walker and Darius McKinney," Riker started as moved aside. "meet Captain Picard of the _Enterprise_." He turned to Picard. "They were in Deannas vision of the Stargate, so we decided to keep them up to speed."

Picard smiled and nodded to them. "Well let's go see what Mister Vrant has to say about all of this."

--

Admiral Janeway stood next to the pulsing Omega core with a tricorder in her hand. It suddenly beeped, and a particle wave pattern displayed on the screen. She frowned, reset the scanner and ran the scan again. The same pattern appeared on the screen. "Tachyons." She mumbled.

Annika Hanson glanced up from her computer station and frowned. "Admiral?"

"Tachyon particles. Look, this entire area is flooded with them." She handed her tricorder down to Annika.

"This doesn't make sense. None of the tests resulted in the formation of tachyon particles."

"Sometimes, Seven, you'll find that the actual thing turns out to act quite differently than how it acts in simulations and on paper." Janeway stopped and bit her tongue. "Sorry. I keep forgetting."

"Its ok. The Doctor cant quit calling me that either." She turned and walked over to the main control panel.

"How is the Doctor these days? I haven't spoke to him in a couple of months." Janeway followed her.

"He is settling in quite well at Starfleet Medical. Look at this…" She stopped and pointed to the screen. "I just reconfigured the sensors to scan for tachyons outside the ship. They are all around us." Janeway turned back to face the Omega core.

"It must be a side effect. Somehow this drive is fracturing time in front and behind us. We need to figure out if we are causing any damage… and if not see if we can manipulate it to our advantage."

--

The tactical officer on the bridge of the _Vitesse _glanced down at his panel to a flashing red indicator. He tapped a few keys, and ran a high-intensity scan of the sector. A star grid appeared on the screen, with a flashing red dot directly to starboard.

"Sir… I think we have company." He spoke up. Captain Dickson stood from his seat.

"Where are they? Our cloak is still online isn't it?"

"Yes sir, we are still cloaked… and I'm pretty sure they are too. I've got a small power signature directly starboard."

"Onscreen." The main viewer flicked on, and displayed the blackness of space littered with stars. "If there is anyone out there, they have a damn good cloak. There is no visual distortion. The sensors on this ship, they can see right through the Romulan and Klingons cloaks, cant they?"

"Yes sir."

"Which means if that is a ship out there… they are someone new. Someone we haven't met yet…" Dickson turned to his tactical officer. "…yellow alert."

--

Picard and Riker both stood back with their arms crossed, watching Vrant go over every centimeter of the Stargate. "He is a strange one, isn't he?" Picard leaned over to Riker.

"Yes… I can't stand him. I will be very happy to dump him back on Cait the first chance I get." Picard chuckled, and noticed the two ensigns talking quietly to each other, consulting their tricorders.

"What's their story? They seem smart." Picard asked.

"Walker and McKinney? They are the tops in their fields. They will surely be climbing up the rank latter soon." Riker stopped and watched them work. "They are also lovers."

"Huh. It's interesting that they were in Deannas vision, how they got put on this mission together. Their expertise may help us unravel this mystery a little quicker. Did they meet on the _Titan_?"

"According to Deanna, they have been together for several years. Met at the academy."

"And they got stationed on the same ship? That was lucky." Picard replied. He glanced over to Riker and saw him shift his weight uneasily. "They make you uncomfortable? I'm surprised at you, Will." Riker sighed.

"I know, its ridiculous. I'm ashamed of myself, its just… unnerving."

"It's the twenty-fourth century Will, get over it." Picard grinned, patted him on the back, and walked closer to the Stargate. "Mister Vrant, what do you think?"

"Me? I think? I think that this is the Stargate. Its real, and its dangerous. If you know what's good for you, you will bury it… and bury it now." He said quickly.

"Why is it dangerous?"

Before Vrant could answer, the top chevron on the gate lit up red. Then the second one lit up. "Its activating!" Deanna said loudly. "Every step back!" They all ran to the side, as the third and fourth chevron lit up.

"Everyone, set your tricorders to active scan!" Picard said quickly, as the last chevron lit up. A blast of blue light appeared in the center of the ring. Captain Riker reached down and rested his hand on the phaser clipped on his belt.

A clear being stepped through the gate. Picard instantly recognized it as the Unekran representative that had visited earlier. It seemed to recognize him as well, for it walked closer to him.

"Captain Jean-Luc Picard." It said.

"Welcome back to earth." He replied to it.

"The Unekran have studied the information you provided us with upon our last visit." The clear being stated.

"Information?" Picard asked, confused.

"Your sensory equipment, on my last visit I created a uplink into your main database and downloaded its contents." Picard widened his eyes as the Unekran pointed to the tricorders they were all holding.

"You used our tricorders as a link to the main computer?"

"Yes. We found information that intrigues us. The individual designated _Data._" Picard glanced down for a moment.

"Data was killed on a mission several months ago." He said quietly.

"Your computer logs confirm that. They also state that his memory was copied to an identical android designated B-4."

"B-4 was not nearly as advanced, and Datas programming never surfaced. Our engineers never found a way to fix it." Jean-Luc replied, starting to get uneasy about the conversation.

"My race believes we can fix him. We have studied your logs, the file copy process, and Datas schematics. The Unekran believe we can restore your Data to his original capacity." The being said. Picard herd Deanna gasp behind him.

"Why are you offering this? Why would you do this for us?" Picard found himself saying.

"Because… it is what we do."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

"_Bridge to Janeway." _Admiral Janeway heard her name echo through the comm system in the _Vitesse _engine room.

"Janeway here."

"_Admiral, sensors have picked up another cloaked vessel in this sector. They are holding position directly to starboard." _Janeway exchanged glances with Annika.

"I'm on my way."

A few moments later, Admiral Janeway stepped out of the turbolift onto the bridge. She walked directly over to the tactical station. "Show me." She said to the lieutenant manning tactical. He pressed a few buttons, and the stargrid reappeared on the screen.

"Its either a cloaked ship, or a severely misaligned sensor array." The lieutenant said. Janeway cracked a slight grin.

"And which do you think it is?"

"It's a ship." He replied, matter-of-factly.

"Agreed." She said, and stepped down from his station. "Now, I think it's severely improbable that two cloaked ships are sitting side by side in the same sector of space without some sort of motivation." She pointed to the viewscreen. "Somehow they can see through our cloak."

"How can you be so sure?" Captain Dickson asked.

"I'm not. But I suggest we test it."

"How?"

"Lets take the ship into warp. Prepare for omega speeds, and Lieutenant…" she stopped and pointed to the tactical officer.

"Van De Kamp." He replied.

"… Lieutenant Van De Kamp will monitor our sensor ghost. If they start to move and follow us, we will know they can see us." Janeway finished her plan.

"And if they follow us, then what?" Dickson asked.

"Then we 'accidentally' blow out a coolant valve and disengage. While we make 'repairs,' we can try to collect all the sensor data we can on them. When it comes to it, one of us will make the first move towards contact."

Captain Dickson rubbed his head for a second. "Were you this ambitious in the Delta Quadrant all the time?"

"Every moment of every day." She smiled.

"Well then lets do it. Helm, take us into warp. Tactical, keep an eye on our cloaked ship."

The _Vitesse_ turned, and leaped forward into warp speed. Lieutenant Van De Kamp kept his eyes on the star grid, which zoomed out to keep the blinking red dot into view. Dickson turned to him.

"What's their status?"

"Nothing so far. They are holding position." Van De Kamp replied.

"Well maybe we were wrong…" Dickson started. His tactical officer interrupted him.

"Wait… the ship is accelerating. They just matched our speed." He said.

"Then again, maybe not." Dickson finished his sentence. "Dickson to engine room, I need you to overload something in the warp core. Nothing to damage us, but enough to make that ship watching think we are in trouble. Be sure not to damage the cloak."

"_Yes sir."_

"Bridge out. Helm, emergency stop." Everyone standing put a foot in front of them as the helm officer activated the braking thrusters. The _Vitesse_ shuddered slightly as it came to a rapid stop.

"The cloaked ship overshot us. They are coming around… and now they are holding position directly in front of us." Lieutenant Van De Kamp confirmed.

Janeway walked to the front of the room and stared at the viewscreen. "Who are you?" She whispered quietly.

--

Briken Dectran stood up from his chair on the command deck of the _Voondrek_. He looked at the wallscreen on the left side of the room, at the filtered image of the _Vitesse_. The sensors on the _Voondrek_ could see right through the _Vitesses _cloak, however he could not figure out why the alien ship had come to such an abrupt stop. His sensors confirmed the overload in their engine core was minimal, and almost faked. Then he realized it.

"They are playing with us." He said out loud.

Vrolan, his first, stood up and looked at the wallscreen then looked back at him.

"What?" he asked.

"They, that ship, they are playing with us."

"What do you mean?" Kernos, his second, stood up to join the conversation.

"That entire scene was fabricated. From the jump to faster than light speed, to the overload in their engine core, to their abrupt stop. They must be able to see us… they were testing to see if we would follow them! And when we did, they disengaged."

"You mean to tell me we fell for a trick from primitives?" Vrolan asked, astonished.

"It looks like it." Dectran responded. The lights in the room flashed suddenly.

_"Incoming VSR from Imperial Senate."_ The ships computer boomed.

"I'll be right back." Dectran said to his two command officers. He entered the transport unit at the back of the room. "VSR." He said, and was suddenly standing in the senate chambers.

Superior DenTra came through the main archway, and rushed up to him.

"You gave the alien captain your naquadah history chip?" He raged.

"What are you talking about… oh. You are referring to the sector cc-2926 mission. It seemed like the right thing to do."

"The right thing to do?" Superior DenTra started to turn red. "We have been reviewing your progress! You just fell into a primitive yet effective trick! If they are the Master Race…" He stopped to breathe. "If they are the Master Race, they are currently unaware of it. The Vanretna Imperial Government would prefer they never found out. The Senate is about to meet. You keep your distance from them until we contact you again. Close VSR." DenTra and the senate disappeared, and the doors opened back onto the command deck of the _Voondrek_.

Vrolan walked up to him. "Now what?"

"Now we wait and see what happens next." He replied.

--

…sorry for the short chapter, I just felt like this one needed to be ended here.

Reviews please! And if you haven't figured it out yet, I can't spell. I already know this. Lol.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

There had been a meeting of the Admirals and it was decided to let the Unekransee B4. Picard watched through curious eyes as the android was escorted into the room with the Stargate. Everyone from the initial encounter was there, all egar to see something incredible. Picard nodded at the ensign who was escorting B4, and dismissed her.

"Hello." B4 said quite loudly to the Unekranrepresentative who approached him. "Why do you have no face or clothes?"

Picard started to say something when the Unekranspoke, interrupting him.

"You are incredible." Was all it said, matter-of-factly. It then turned to Picard.

"The android should rest on the floor. Its motor functions will fail temporarily."

A minute later after B4 was seated the Unekranbent down and rested its head against B4's head.

"What are you doi-" B4 suddenly went silent as there was a momentary flash of light between the two of them. The Unekranstood back, seemingly disoriented for a fraction of a second.

"It is complete." It said as it threw its hands up in the air. The Stargate surged with energy as the event horizon of the wormhole formed.

"Wait – what now?" Picard asked as he approached the Unekran.

"We… will be in contact." It replied and rapidly walked through the gate. Picard turned around on his heel, feeling exasperated, and looked down at the android who seemed to be frozen in time.

"B4?" He asked as his and the _Titans_ senior staff diverged upon the yellow-skinned body that was still sitting on the floor.

"Processing." It replied after a moment.

"Sirs?" Picard turned around to Ensign Walker who was rapidly approaching them.

"Yes ensign?" Riker looked up at him.

"I got a complete scan of the Unekranas he walked by me."

"And?" Picard and Riker said in unison.

"Its internal makeup is nearly identical to that of Commander Datas."

"Yes?" A familiar voice said from behind them. They all turned around to the android. "Captain Picard? Commander Riker?"

"Data?"

"Yes sir?"

"Oh my god!" Deanna squeaked as she hit the ground and embraced him in a hug.

"It's good to see you too, Counselor…" Data remarked as he stood up. "My memory files seem to be fragmented. Nothing is how…" He stopped when he saw the Stargate. "You found the gate?"

Everyone stopped with curiosity. "You know about the gate?"

"Apparently…" He trailed off as he approached it. "Did the Unekranthat revived me leave?" Before anyone could answer Data stood stiff. "New memory circuits… processing…" Everyone stood there and stared.

--

Admiral Janeway had been working closely with Lieutenant Van De Kamp over the past several hours in an attempt to penetrate the alien ships cloak with their sensors. So far it had been a fruitless effort and she was growing tired of the standoff.

"Captain Dickson, what do you think we should do?" She looked down towards the command chair at him. She was wondering if they should take the first step towards first contact as a sign of good faith.

"Well we're going to have to do something eventually. They seem to be content sitting here… I don't know how long I want to keep this up." He responded. She nodded and thought silently to herself as she stared at the blip on the screen in front of her. The comm panel interrupted her thoughts when it started chirping.

"Captain, I've got an incoming communication for the Admiral on a secure line." The comm officer announced.

"May I?" Janeway gestured to Dicksons ready room.

"Be my guest." He nodded. She walked down the steps and into the room. A moment later she tapped a key on the desktop terminal to activate the transmission.

_"Admiral Janeway." _A gray-haired man appeared on the screen.

"Admiral Clementine." She responded. He was her liaison to the Stargate project while she was off world.

_"Just wanted to keep you in the loop – the Unekran has been back and successfully… 'fixed' for lack of a better word… Data."_

"Jean-Luc's second officer? He's back to normal now?" She raised her eyes in astonishment.

_"Seems to be himself now they tell me. Although he keeps having new memories surface that he swears weren't there before. Seems to know all kinds of interesting things about the Stargate and the origins of human kind. They think the Unekran planted the memories." _

"That's incredible." Janeway nodded to herself as she stared off into the starscape beyond the window. Something on the monitor drew her eye back – a blinking symbol at the bottom of the screen revealing that the channel she was on was no longer secure. She narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to have to call you back Admiral. Janeway out."

--

"They must be able to tell that we hacked the line." Vrolan looked up from his panel to his Commander, Briken Dectran.

Kernos turned around and faced Briken as well. "Sir how much longer will we sit here and stare at each other?"

"As long as it takes." Dectran replied, calmly. "We are on orders from the Imperial Senate to observe under stealth as long as…" He stopped when the computer interrupted him.

_"Incoming VSR from Unekran Federated Worlds."_ The bridge fell silent with confusion.

"Why are they contacting us directly?" Vrolan said with concern. "This is very odd."

"Only one way to find out." Dectran nodded to them and stood. He walked quickly to the transport unit at the back of the bridge. "VSR."

A moment later he stood in an observation lounge of a space station orbiting a large sun. He knew he was in one of the rarest places a being could be… _Una Sola –_The UnekranStargate Observation Complex. The room he stood in was the only room of the complex capable of supporting biological life. A sole Unekran was standing before him. Briken bowed slightly, for it was considered a high honor to be in the presence of the Unekran.

"Briken Dectran of the Vanretna Imperial Government warship _Voondrek. _Thank you for seeing us." It spoke.

"Thank you for contacting me." He stared at the floor, not wanting to look directly at it. "How may I be of service?"

"We have recently learned that the humans you observe are descendents of the master race." It stopped and observed the expression on Brikens face. "We know of your command abilities and your record – we know that you and your ship alone may be trusted. We have provided the humans with the knowledge to go home – to earth – so that they may discover their past. They will very soon re-join the Universal Council of Five."

Briken stayed silent but his mind was racing. What did this mean for the rest of the universe?

"Commander Dectran, your government may not be trusted with this knowledge. We are entrusting you with protecting the humans at all costs. It is your duty to help see them through the journey they are about to embark upon. May we trust you with this task?"

"Of course." He looked up at the Unekran. "I dedicate my life to it."

For the first time ever, Briken thought he saw a hint of a smile on the Unekrans face as it spoke. "Close VSR."

Briken stood silent for a moment as the doors opened revealing the bridge of his ship. His officers turned to him with interest in their eyes.

"Sir?" Vrolan, his first, was the first to speak. "What happened?"

"Lower the cloak and hail them."

"Commander?"

"They are the master race." He replied softly. "We've been trusted by the Unekran to provide any and all assistance." The bridge fell silent again as they all realized what that meant.

"Cloak offline. I'm sending out a full-spectrum hail." Kernos said as he worked his panel. "They are responding."

Everyone turned to the wallscreen as the alien ship's bridge appeared. Briken immediately recognized the woman he had encountered years back in the Delta Quadrant. She was the first to speak.

"_My name is Admiral Janeway of the United Federation of Planets." _She stopped when she realized who he was. _"Commander Dectran of the _Voondrek?_"_

Briken bowed and lowered himself to one knee. "As Commander of the _Voondrek_, I hereby offer the resources and services of my ship to you and your kind."


End file.
